The Wildcats were expected to struggle in their first game without freshman Nerlens Noel, their outstanding shot-blocking center who tore his ACL earlier this week and is out for the season. But what happened on Saturday in Knoxville was beyond any worst-case scenario.

The final score (88-58) didn’t do justice to the Volunteers’ dominance in a game where the home team had double Kentucky’s points into the second half. When determining whether the Wildcats will earn an at-large berth, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will evaluate how the team performs with what players will be available.

"This one, I’ll burn the tape," UK coach John Calipari said. "I’m not watching this one. I had to sit through it.

"They deserved to beat us by 50 today. They played harder. They played rougher. They executed better. They were stronger with the ball. We just had passive guys who did not want to make plays. (We were) tentative."

Unless Kentucky produces a dramatic turnaround, it’s hard to imagine these Wildcats proving that they belong in the NCAA Tournament.

How bad was Game 1 without Noel? Here’s a sampling ...

LACK OF DEFENSE

Tennessee point guard Trae Golden attacked the rim with reckless abandon and was successful on his trips into the Noel-free paint.

In his first seven SEC games, Golden was held to single digits five times and didn’t score more than 11. He played better after missing a couple of games earlier this month with a hamstring issue—16 points against South Carolina and 12 against Vanderbilt—but this level of production was unexpected, to say the least.

Golden scored 24 points and handed out eight assists with no turnovers Saturday. He hit 6-of-8 from the field and 11-of-12 from the free-throw line.

And it was probably the most glaring example of how much Kentucky will miss Noel’s presence in the middle.

LACK OF MUSCLE

Tennessee’s first offensive trip didn’t produce any points, but the Volunteers did take three shots in the paint and come down with three offensive rebounds. The game plan was obvious—get the ball into the middle as often as possible.

In the first three minutes, Tennessee power forward Jarnell Stokes took six shots, had a pair of offensive rebounds and attempted two free throws (he made one). Even though Stokes slowed down a bit because of foul issues, the Volunteers kept relentlessly attacking the rim. Tennessee scored 40 points in the paint Saturday (Kentucky had 22 in the paint) and had 19 second-chance points.

And with the middle established, the perimeter opened up. Tennessee isn’t much of a 3-point shooting team, but the Vols hit all five attempts from beyond the arc.

LACK OF INTENSITY

Noel’s absence wasn’t the only change to the starting lineup.

Former walk-on Jarrod Polson started at point guard instead of Ryan Harrow, the transfer from N.C. State who has struggled all season to run the offense with much success. And Alex Poythress was out of the starting lineup for only the second time this year; Kyle Wiltjer started for him.

Those adjustments didn’t work, either. The game was tied 7-7 early, and then things quickly got ridiculous, as the Volunteers rolled off a 28-5 run to take control of the game. Polson couldn’t handle Golden out front, allowing the Tennessee point guard to blow past on his way to the rim. Wiltjer made just 5-of-15 shots.

And it didn’t spark better play from either Poythress or Harrow.

Poythress fouled out in 20 minutes after producing four points, four turnovers and two rebounds. Harrow fouled out in 18 minutes after producing zero points, zero assists and one turnover.

"If we don't do this all together, we'll have many more of these,” Calipari said. “I've got to come up with schemes, but I can’t go out and do it for them."

LACK OF POISE

The Wildcats didn’t do a good job keeping their composure, either.

Center Willie Cauley-Stein and shooting guard Archie Goodwin were both hit with technical fouls during the game, and assistant coach John Robic was ejected in the first half for arguing with officials.

"I'm going to try whatever I can, and let's see where this goes,” Calipari said. “It doesn't look good right now, but ... we'll see.

"If they weren't embarrassed by this ... then they shouldn't be at Kentucky."